Football Legend Joe Montana Invests $75 Million in Cannabis

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, looking to hit pay dirt in the legal marijuana industry, is part of a $75 million investment in a pot operator, it was announced Thursday.

San Jose, California-based Caliva said it will use the investment to grow a company that includes a farm, a retail store, distribution center and a delivery service. It also distributes its branded products in dozens of other retail outlets in the state.

The former San Francisco 49ers star said his venture capital firm was investing in an industry he believes “can provide relief to many people and can make a serious impact on opioid use or addiction.” Some doctors recommend marijuana to treat opioid addiction and as an alternate relief for pain.

Montana is the latest, and one of the most prominent, professional athletes to openly endorse marijuana use. Heisman trophy winner and retired NFL running back Ricky Williams and NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton have been particularly outspoken in their embrace of marijuana.

Former Yahoo! Inc. chief executive officer Carol Bartz also participated in the investment and will join the company’s board of directors.

Bartz, 70, said the Caliva investors show the growing mainstream acceptance of marijuana, which can be legally consumed by adults in 10 states and can be used by patients with doctors’ recommendations in 33 states.

“I wasn’t a reefer head when I was in college,” Bartz said with a chuckle.

Until about seven months ago, Bartz said she had no interest in marijuana or the industry. Then the wife of a fellow Cisco Systems board member told her to try cannabis cream to treat pain caused by a knee replacement and almost overnight, she said she became marijuana’s best salesperson.

“People are discovering there are better ways to clamp down on pain than over drugging yourself,” she said. Bartz said she doesn’t smoke or consume edible marijuana, but uses cannabis-based creams and tinctures.

Bartz said the investment will be used to open more stores and expand operations and launch products, including cannabis-based beverages.

California broadly legalized marijuana on Jan. 1 and state officials predicted as many as 6,000 stores would open in a matter of a few years. But the state Bureau of Cannabis Control issued just 547 retail licenses in 2018, and sales fell below expectations.